In the principle occasion of UFC Vegas, No. 111 welterweight Gabriel Bonfim confronted UFC veteran Randy Brown. Earlier than the occasion, many believed this could be one other uninteresting UFC Apex card, however even earlier than the principle occasion, this card was on fireplace. With simply 4 selections in his first 11 fights, a surprising mixture of KOs and submissions set him up as an announcement on the prime of the invoice.
Gabriel Bonfim vs Who?
Earlier that night time, older brother Ismael Bonfim suffered a brutal defeat to Chris Padilla after dropping weight. Nevertheless, welterweight Bonfim did not let that trouble him and went on to carry out in his first UFC important occasion. Within the second spherical, Bonfim dropped Brown closely with a brutal clinch knee, however referee Mark Smith rapidly intervened, a lot to Brown’s dismay. Many followers on-line are discussing the cancellation of this battle, but it surely’s not an enormous mistake by the referee, particularly in comparison with the blunders at current UFC occasions.
After the match, Bonfim referred to as out the massive title to Colby Covington. Covington is extremely inactive proper now, sitting infamously within the rankings ready for a possibility to maneuver up above him. Final 12 months, he suffered a nasty reduce and TKO loss to rising contender Joaquin Buckley. The American has solely competed in a single battle a 12 months since 2020, however the UFC may undoubtedly land him on the White Home card if he is nonetheless within the group. So it is effectively value trying in one other course.
In the event you look above Bonfim within the rankings, there are quite a lot of matchups already arrange, however there are additionally just a few matchups the place he does not have an opponent. The aforementioned Buckley is with out an opponent and is licking his wounds after a crushing loss to former Elite champion Kamaru Usman in June. Buckley was doing nice till he encountered the “Nigerian nightmare.” Bonfim supplies nice resilience for opponents, and Buckley himself is the proper subsequent step for the rising Brazilian.
Bonfim was photographed with a boot on his proper foot after the match, and there’s a good probability he can be sidelined for some time. One other welterweight who could possibly be out of the cage for some time is Jeff Neal. Neal suffered a tough knockout loss to widespread star Carlos Prates in August. Given the grueling Knockout schedule, each Bonfim and Neal could possibly be accessible subsequent spring. A time when the UFC tends to journey to Brazil on battle nights and this might simply develop into a headline.
Who would you wish to see face Gabriel Bonfim subsequent?
